This Strange Eventful History by Claire Messud

What I am afraid of being old is not being capable of remembering my past, and my loved ones. It's our responsibility to know the history. This is a long journey of Cassar's spanning from 1940 to 2010. The story starts with Gaston Cassar, a native of Algeria, a former French colony. His family was compelled to flee their homeland around 1940 due to the German invasion of France, while he served as a naval officer defending the country. They lost the war. The new France is not the same. They struggled and never lived in Algeria again. The aftermath influenced his children, François and Denise. The scars of wartime displacement, both physical and emotional, continued to haunt them, leading to feelings of strangeness and isolation, a constant reminder of their humble origins and genteel poverty.

This book is an unmistakably resonant lesson for our times. Reflecting on their origin story at the end of the book evoked a variety of emotions. Moreover, it leaves some uncertainties. Worrying about seeing someone struggling as they get older and the thought of dementia or having a stroke scares me so much.

Thanks to @definitelybooks #pansing and Izah for the review copy. Opinions are my own 💙

*Available at all major bookstores in Singapore and Malaysia and their online store

Lies & Weddings by Kevin Kwan

I'm not sure when I last delved into a romantic comedy novel. Reading Kevin Kwan for the first time has been a delight. The storyline is straightforward, and the short chapters make it easy to follow.

Some of the contemporaries' novels depict Asian-American mothers in a way that includes mocking and racist tones, yet they accurately capture scenes from the modern world. What I like the most is the friendship between the main characters proving that good deeds are all that matter.

It's about Augie, Bea and Rufus Leung Gresham, the British-Chinese who made up the noblest family in the country and were raised alongside their best friend, Eden Tong, a girl next door. No one had any inkling that behind stories of glamorous Gresham rose a mountain of debt. Arabella Gresham, their mother's extravagant ambitions of expenses only made things worse. The only way to solve the problem is to exploit her children to marry for money. Filled with a luxurious lifestyle that I never knew existed, and humorously tragic situations when things don't go according to plan. Money cannot buy love, but money increases the chances of finding true love. The ending was kinda of pretentious but it was a fun read.

The Secret by Andrew Child

Well, another story about a hero who puts himself in danger to save America. Jack Reacher is smart, strong, proficient in hand-to-hand combat and also has strong deduction skills and is known as an exceptional investigator. It began with secret government research that happened in India in 1969 that involved a program to make antidotes against chemical and biological weapons. The incident had caused a thousand death toll of innocent people. Of course, the American government could be embarrassed if the revelations were out.

Yet there are numbers of retired scientists who had worked in 1969 had been murdered. To stop the chaos, Reacher digs up another evidence of brewing up the sabotage. It is a standard cliche in the world of one's action-hero figure but a fun read. The Secret is the twenty-eighth book in the Jack Reacher series btw.